The present invention generally relates to exercise equipment and, more particularly, to an exercise rack permitting a user to perform rectus abdominis exercises, including lying leg lifts, lying twists and similar exercises for strengthening the lower abdominal muscles.
A variety of exercise devices and machines have been developed to simulate activities found to be effective in conditioning the body. Some devices are designed to allow the user to perform pull-up exercises, stair stepping, striding (simulating cross-country skiing), lifting weights and the like. While many such machines strengthen different muscles of a human body they are not well equipped for building up abdominal muscles. The fit abs is a goal of many body trainers and coaches.
A conventional advice to improve the abdominal muscle structure is to perform crunches when the user is in a prone position and lifts the upper torso. It was determined that such exercises are non-functional and even dangerous—excessive trunk flexion (bending forward at the waist) puts too much strain on spinal disks, which can eventually lead to a back injury. Some research indicates that repeated stressing of the back as in flexion lowers the back's tolerance to injury. A more preferred type of exercise is designed to strengthen the core muscles—those surrounding the spine—and stiffen the torso using stronger hip and thigh muscles. Rectus abdominis controls the movements of the pelvis which affects the curvature of the spine. This muscle begins on the ribs and connects at the bottom of the pelvis. Since this muscle runs the length of the stomach, full range of motion exercises are most effective to strengthen and tone the rectus abdominis. When a muscle contracts during exercise, it shortens and that is the goal when training the rectus abdominis.
The present invention contemplates elimination of drawbacks associated with conventional exercise equipment and provision of an exercise apparatus that is designed to strengthen the core muscles, while preventing stress on the user's back.